Ink-jet type image formation apparatuses for forming images by ink ejection on a printing medium, and electrophotography type image formation apparatuses for forming images by use of a developer on a printing medium are known as the output device of computers and workstations. Some of the image formation apparatuses are of the type which uses selectively cut paper sheets or roll paper as the printing medium. Some of them are of the type which uses roll paper only. An image formation apparatus which uses roll paper is usually equipped with a roll paper holder, and the roll paper is fed to an image formation section to form an image.
The roll paper is delivered usually by pairs of delivery rollers in a paper feed direction to the image formation section. The known delivery roller pairs include roll paper feed rollers which are contained in the roll paper holder and provided above the roll paper, roll paper delivery rollers which are provided on the downstream side of the roll paper feed rollers in the paper feed direction, and registration rollers which are provided on the downstream side of the roll paper delivery rollers. A cutter is provided between the roll paper feed rollers and the roll paper delivery rollers to cut the roll paper into a predetermined size of recording paper sheets by moving in a direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction.
In formation of an image on roll paper, the roll paper caught and delivered by the roll paper feed rollers and related members is once stopped and is cut by the cutter into a prescribed size of a recording paper sheet before the image formation. Then the front end of the recording paper of the prescribed size is brought into contact with the registration rollers, and is fed to the image formation section with the timing of image formation to form an image. Therefore, the maximum length of the recording paper in the paper feed direction is limited to be nearly equal to the distance between the cutter and the registration roller.
Accordingly, in order to form an image on a recording paper long in the paper feed direction, an image formation apparatus of a large size should be used in which the cutter and the registration rollers are separated in a long distance. However, the size of the image formation apparatus is limited by the installation space, so that the length of the recording paper is also limited. Therefore, an image is not readily formed on a recording paper sheet longer in the paper feed direction, and the image formation apparatus therefor is not easily handleable.
When the recording paper sheet cut in the prescribed size is delivered to the image formation section, the remaining roll paper is kept uncut and waiting at the position where the delivered paper sheet has been cut. The cutter, when it returns to the home position, may touch the front end of the remaining roll paper to cause cutting of the front end or other inconveniences. The cut front end portion may cause paper jamming or other trouble. This makes the image formation apparatus less handleable.